the walking experiments.
Three experiments with different scenarios are executed in the same planned route in Central London.
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Scenario 01 | the blindfold.
In pairs, Participant A would be blindfolded and to be guided, verbally or physically, by Participant B to complete the route.
To find out how the absence of one sense - sight, would affect our bodily perception and experience.
Observation & Analysis:
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All blindfolded participants took smaller steps and walked slower.
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Reaching out their arms to avoid any obstacles, they are very insecure and dependent on their partners for guidance.
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Every step was taken carefully, especially going over kerbs.
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Participants felt safer in crowded street than in a quiet one.
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When the street is less crowded, participants could not judge the sense of distance due to the lacking of external noise.
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In the condition when the sense of sight is disabled, people would depend more on other senses - hearing and touch to seek information.
“There's no sense of distance, that makes me very insecure, especially in the quiet street. Felt like I was floating through, not knowing where to go.”
by Szi Hang Sia, 2015
Scenario 02 | the soundscapes.
In pairs, Participant A would be listening to Sound 01, while Participant B would be listening to Sound 02, to complete the route.
Sound 01 - mixture of noises from cars honking, traffics, and
people chatting
Sound 02 - meditative melody from nature, with birds chirping
and water flowing.
To find out how the sense of sound would affect our bodily perception and experience.
Observation & Analysis:
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Participants who are listening to Sound 01 walked a lot faster than participants listening to Sound 02.
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When Sound 01 is plugged in, the commotion of buzz and fuzz sped up the walking pace, where participants just wanted to finish the route as quick as possible.
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The laid-back melody of Sound 02 distracted the participants from the buzzing streets, which encouraged them to enjoy the journey.
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Hence, sound does affect the way we act.
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A more chill music combining sounds from nature slows us down even in a crowd.
“The music is very calming, which puts me in a good mood.
I actually paid more attention to my surrounding, and everything seems much slower.”
Tina Yien Lim, 2015
Scenario 03 | the follower.
In pairs, both participants would complete the route together; where Participant A would follow exactly what Participant B do during the walk. Every body gestures and footstep coordination should be imitated as accurately as possible.
To find out how imitating one's gestures would affect our bodily perception and experience.
Observation & Analysis:
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All participants seemed to be having fun imitating their partners, which they got distracted from the busy crowd.
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Going around in circles, wandering around the streets, seeing and touching the street elements, each pairs became very aware of the presence of their partners as well as the elements on the street, such as the phone booth, the totem, the statue in the middle of the park, etc.
“I swear, I've never paid this much attention to her before.”
Pamela Tan, 2015
